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Theo Walcott's World Cup curse strikes again

Matt Law

Down and out: Theo Walcott in action for England in qualifying against Ukraine but the injured Arsenal star won't feature at the World Cup. Photo: Getty Images

Little did Theo Walcott know that his shock selection in May 2006 would be the start of a World Cup curse.

Walcott was just 17 and had not made a single first-team appearance for Arsenal, let alone won an England cap, when he shut his phone in a locker for the theory section of his driving test.

When the teenager retrieved his handset, it was full of messages informing him that Sven Goran Eriksson had named him in the England squad for the World Cup finals in Germany. "I was shocked and surprised as everyone was; my eyes were just popping out of my head," Walcott said at the time.

"Most players don't get to go to a World Cup - I'm the lucky one. Becoming England's youngest player would be something special." Going to the 2006 World Cup in Germany proved to be anything but a lucky experience for Walcott. He did not play a game. His main role was to make a video diary of his experience. The tournament was just as bewildering for the player's family, who could not afford to stay in the same hotel as the other England footballers' relatives.

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The scars of the tournament became apparent, as Steve Gerrard said in his autobiography that Walcott "had no right to be there" and huge pressure was placed on the former Southampton rookie to show what Eriksson had seen in him.

Just over two years later, Walcott proved he was no World Cup flop as he scored a hat-trick against Croatia in qualifying for the 2010 finals. The 4-1 win set the tone for England's qualifying campaign and remains the most impressive performance of the Fabio Capello era.

However, any gratitude Capello felt towards Walcott evaporated when the Italian named his squad on June 1, 2010, for the South Africa finals. The player he arguably owed most to was left out.

Walcott, by now 21, was on the golf course when he received the news. His first reaction was that it must be a prank call, his second reaction was to cry. He was polite enough to wish Capello all the best. Revenge was dished out to some degree in Walcott's book, in which he admitted to being confused by Capello's instructions and never quite knowing what was expected of him. He was not alone in those thoughts.

Bouncing back has become something of a theme of Walcott's career. He seemed destined to go to Brazil as one of England's key men for this summer's World Cup. Five goals in five Arsenal appearances ahead of the FA Cup tie against Tottenham on Saturday suggested that 24-year-old Walcott was ready to enter the best period of his career - until injury struck.

Walcott would never have guessed he would need to fear for his World Cup place again, when he gestured 2-0 to the Spurs fans from a stretcher and went to bed that night largely pain free. Alarm bells started to ring, when he awoke in agony with his knee practically frozen. The World Cup curse had struck again.

The 17-year-old who had a World Cup dream in 2006 will be 29 in 2018. If fortune really does favour the brave, then Walcott will be in Russia.